Next Sunday I, hopefully , will be lining up for my 10th Perth Chevron City to Surf Marathon.  This will be a first for me for a number of reasons. It will be the first time I have ran the same marathon event 10 years in a row. I was a similar streak for the Perth Marathon last year but was denied by a calf tear and missed it, funnily enough it was to be my 13th Perth Marathon and I missed it again this year because of plantar fasciitis. Maybe next year ? At the moment I reckon I am 50-50 for the City to Surf marathon but that didn’t stop me turning up for a photo shoot and an article that will appear in the local newspaper this weekend. Never been one to shy away from some great (or any?) publicity.

The main reason for my reluctance to commit to the City to Surf is a bigger streak I am currently on with my number of sub three hour marathon finishing g times, currently sitting at 27 in a row.  Of course if I run the City to Surf and DNF I lose both streaks where as if I don’t run the City to Surf and wait until my PF is completely cured I reckon I got 10 years running sub 3 hour marathons. (or there about’s…) So do I roll the dice or take the easy option and stay in bed next Sunday and just pretend the City to Surf never happened. ?

Thinking about it just now I realized this would be my 13th City to Surf in a row, if you count the two half marathons I did the previous years before the marathon was added to the agenda. Must be a ‘13th’ thing, it really is an unlucky number ? Then again I’ve ran with ‘666’ on my chest on a number of occasions and have always ran well, funny that ? ( or not if there is in-fact an after life, a small price to pay for the number of sub three marathons surely?)

I am currently two sessions into a three session Extra Corporeal Shock Wave Therapy treatment plan with the final session scheduled in for next Monday, the week of the marathon. The foot will then be strapped up by the Doctor and I’ll start downing Voltaren like smarties for a few days.  Please note I am by no means condoning taking anti-inflammatories ‘willy-nilly’ but in my case it is a risk I am willing to take, risk and reward people, risk and reward.   As I always say to my many Daughters, ‘Do as I say , not as I do’; does that make me a bad parent, probably ? I’m confident with a shed-full of anti-inflammatories , the EWST treatment , the foot strapping, orthotics (unfortunately I don’t think the Nike Vaporflys 4% are built for orthotics so on race day I’ll probably run naked, that’s naked in relation to wearing orthotics!) and my high pain threshold (?) I’ll be able to finish and finish under three hours.

Fitness wise I am also rolling the dice as 3-4 months of only running slowly and on grass or trails will certainly have taken the edge of my general aerobic fitness. To compound the problem I’ve not run for nearly two weeks as I try and give the foot time to heal while I under-go ESWT. The only saving grace has been my Elliptigo which I have been using for the last week. I’m hoping this will keep my aerobic fitness level at sub3 levels. For anybody who needs a running fix without the pounding this , at the moment, is probably the best thing to use. (http://www.elliptigo.com ) I rode a 2 hour hills session on the GO today and it certainly gives you that feeling of a good ‘long run’ without the pounding that normally entails.

On a totally different subject this Thursday,  23rd August 7pm -9pm,  I’ll be at the Run Nation Film Festival showing at the Luna Cinema in Leederville. ( https://runnationfilmfestival.com ) If you’re in Perth come along and say G’day. The film is currently doing the rounds in Australia so check out the website for your nearest showing. I watched the 2017 version and there were some great short stories, my favourite was obviously the runner who attempted the 48 hour track ultra with little or no training, it was brilliant. !